Headless horseman visits county to promote Halloween activity

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A headless horseman recently visited Seymour and Brownstown to promote a haunting Halloween activity in the Columbus area that benefits therapeutic animal visits to nursing homes and assisted living centers.

The main scare times at The Haunting at Shireman Homestead, 7060 W. County Road 200N in Bartholomew County, are from 8 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through October.

The cost is $12 per person. There also are children-friendly games from 4 to 6 p.m. at a cost of $5 per person at the door.

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“It’s just a good time,” said Cheryl Shireman, who operates The Haunting and made the trip to Jackson County with the headless horseman. Shireman Homestead is a nonprofit organization.

Her daughter, Andrea Short, and other family members and friends help out with The Haunting, which funds Shireman’s visits to nursing homes and assisted living centers from Indianapolis to Louisville, including Jackson and Jennings counties.

“We’ve made 112 nursing home and assisted living facility visits this year,” the Jackson County native said. “It takes quite of a bit a money to do those.”

Shireman, who worked as an engineer across the Midwest for many years, now spends some her time taking miniature horses, dogs, sheep, goats, chickens and rabbits along in a specially made bus to visit with residents of the nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Many of those animals have been rescued.

“We had 82 animal rescues this year,” she said.

But it’s worth the effort because animals just have unconditional love, Shireman said.

The Haunting takes about 45 minutes to complete and features real horses, heavy equipment, flames throwers and much more. There is a tractor ride at the end of it, and there’s also an upside-down farmhouse and a western town.

Shireman said about 1,200 to 1,500 people visit the farm each weekend during October.

She said preparing for The Haunting each year involves the hanging of 65,000 lights. Those lights will be taken down in a two-week period after The Haunting ends and replaced with about 75,00 lights for the special holiday at the homestead.

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For information, visit shiremanhomestead.com or call 812-372-2946.

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